The Grotto

i love infrared photography because it helps focus attention on areas that we normally ignore - such as the leaves on trees or, in this case, the stonework of the grotto.
i kept the composition very simple to concentrate the viewer's gaze upon the grotto, trees and the reflection.

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@Benst this is the version without the Gaussian Blur. the detail is not as evident in this reduced sized image as it is full size. the brightness is inherent with NIR, in trying to reduce it results in drabness.

I really like the affect on the trees and water but I am not sure you got as much detail in the grotto as you would have liked Sky, maybe slightly too bright.

Helpful 122 February 2016

Zozo@benst Thank you for the welcome feedback. i did manage to record all the detail in the stonework but.. i usually leave my NIR images sharp although on many sites it is stated that to get the NIR "glow" one needs to employ a little Gaussian blur - so i gave it a go. i edit via LR5 and zoomed in at 100% to apply the blur - stopping as soon as it showed, one side effect is that it lightens/brightens the image. i also saved a version without the blur but thought to post for opinions and advice. i would post a small version in the reply but do not know how to do it :-(
regarding the sky being too bright. when employing NIR everything is brighter than standard photography - it's one of the things i like. as i edit i make constant use of the histogram and often switch soft-proofing on too - this way i have no highlight or shadow losses. the one requirement for NIR, above all others, is bright, uninterrupted sunlight.

24 February 2016

benstwhen you upload your photo to focussion put a tick in the little "allow revisions" box after the description bow this will allow you and others to post rvised copies easily. ;-)hope that helps

24 February 2016

benstp.s. I didn't mean the sky was to bright I meant the grotto. I accidently referred to you as "Sky", got mixed up with another member "Skypilot", my apologies Zozo

What do you like?

This is beautiful. I love the reflections! The angle from which the picture was shot is right one point... gives the grotto a 3D appearance. I am new to photography but I do know position and how to angle the shots make a picture. Very nice!

What would you improve?

I don't really think I would change much. The picture is very bright. At first look it almost seemed as if there was too much in the trees. But it's beautiful!

22 February 2016

Zozo@HLCPhotography thank you for your valued feedback - you are most kind.
the brightness is largely due to utilising NIR. abundant uninterrupted bright sunshine is needed for this technique so the brightness is really inherent. in attempting to bring the brightness down all i do is make the image rather dull looking..